So when do we get real Firefox mobile?
this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2025
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Mozilla said last time they don't want to maintain two variants of their browser. So unless Apple finally decides custom browser engines are allowed worldwide, a real Firefox probably won't happen.
I doubt the EU and Japan have enough traction to change Apple's mind on this issue.
Probably never? I don't think we even have real Chrome yet and that's a trillion dollar company.
Great, let lazy developers ship lots of React/Electron/whatever apps each coming with their own Chrome engines and each being 100MB+ in size. Websites won't be tested properly on Safari anymore because "please install Chrome from the App Store for maximum compatibility". And Google's domination of the browser market will be completely unstoppable.
More competition is always better.
We all thought that when Google came along, too.
...what?
Did you not notice that almost every browser from recent years is based on Chromium?
Did you not notice how Google Search basically eradicated almost every alternative there was (RIP AltaVista…) over the years?
Did you not notice how Android dominates the mobile OS market in most countries?
So, hold up, your solution to monopolies is enforced monopolies?
Funny how you're talking about monopolies when the most probable outcome of Apple opening up their OS will be even more Chromium-based browsers in the mobile world.
So, that's a yes on the enforced monopolies?
IMHO it’s Apple’s product and thus Apple’s rules. It’s not about monopoly, it’s just Apple having control over their own product. You’re still free to NOT buy their product.
So you're entirely against the EU's DMA?
I’m against the whole EU construct. I’d like to see them downgraded to the EEC/EEA again. So, yes, I’m also against those pencil-pushers in little Brussels making stupid (to be fair: sometimes, very rarely, less stupid) laws instead of letting people decide with their money.
Ah, and I would bet a lot of money you don't actually live in the EU, do you?
Born there and lived there until very recently. That's why I'm so against it. 😉
Hopefully you are incorrect. Buttt I wouldn't be surprised if you were correct.
A lot iPhone apps already use React. There's a sample of a few on the React Native site: https://reactnative.dev/showcase. It's almost certain that you have at least one React Native app installed on your phone :)
I'm not sure what being able to run different browsers has to do with Electron, as Electron doesn't run on mobile at all.
Sites already misbehave in Safari because there's so many Safari-specific bugs. It's similar to IE6 in that sites often need Safari-specific hacks to make them work properly.
React Native and React are different. React Native does not use a web browser.
Technically React DOM doesn't need a browser either - it works fine with Node.js + jsdom for example, or really any JS engine. Tests written using React Testing Library don't use a browser. There's also React Server Components, and React can be used to render non-HTML content too.
Why would someone use React DOM on iOS when React Native exists, though? That's the part I don't understand. The core concepts are the same between the two, and you can share a large amount of code between a React web app and a React Native mobile app (even moreso if you use react-native-web for the web app).
It’s only React now. But misguided developers WILL also package Chrome if given the chance.
And maybe it’s not Safari making the sites misbehave, maybe it’s Google pushing arbitrary features via their Chromium/Chrome ownership and developers optimising for them instead of adhering to actual standards?
I agree with your reasoning. I refuse to use chrome. Even at work I use it only for the sites that are non functional.
I still think this is a good thing and hope they do keyboards next because fuck do I hate swipe typing on iPhone.
fuck do I hate swipe typing on iPhone
If you can get used to the idea of carrying a brick, maybe have a look at Clicks Keyboard.
And maybe it’s not Safari making the sites misbehave,
It is, though. You can build a modern web app and it'll work fine in Chrome, work fine in Firefox, but have weird issues in Safari.
Will they? It's possible to do on Android but I've never heard of anyone doing it. Cordova on Android uses the Android web view component rather than ship its own copy of Chromium. Of course Android web view is now Chrome so it's less likely that you would have difficult compatibility problems that would make you want to ship your own browser engine.
Websites won’t be tested properly on Safari anymore
They only have to be tested on Safari specifically, because it's doing some things differently from Mozilla and Chrome. I guess Apple will finally have to use their money to actually fix those issues with their own engine, so people will prefer using it. Oh no, all of that hard-earned cash! /s
(As a web developer, I despise Safari, sometimes with passion. At least we finally got rid of IE and that non-Chrome Edge shitshow by now.)
Not only is Safari miserable to test on without a Mac, whenever I see an exception to something in caniuse, it's almost always Safari.
Yep, apart from the bugs that really annoys me, too. To effectively debug an issue on iOS, you need an iPhone and connect it to a Mac (or iPad) to use the debug tools.
Every other browser can be run on a typical PC. You can even emulate Android, run Firefox and Chrome and just get cracking. I'm not getting paid to buy an expensive device to do my work, lol.
Well the alternative is what we have now: everyone is forced to use Safari.
Imagine being upset that people have a choice now.
Mobile apps are all already written without a care in the world about the user. I doubt Jimmy, who uses exclusively TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook and maybe plays a few ad-infested mobile games, is going to notice a difference, but now people can use Firefox and Chrome if they want instead of being locked to Safari in all its "glory".